Onimusha Way of the Sword will feel more like a modern "Action Game": Akihito Kadowaki and Satoru Nihei [Gamescom Asia 2025 Exclusive]

Ahead of Onimusha Way of the Sword's release next year in 2026, the team from Sportskeeda Gaming had the opportunity to speak with the game's producer, Akihito Kadowaki, and the director, Satoru Nihei. During Gamescom Asia 2025, our on-site reporter, Angshuman Dutta, had the opportunity to interview the developers on my behalf.

Being a huge Onimusha fan who grew up playing the older titles, and recently revisited the series through the remastered release of Onimusha 2 earlier this year, I couldn’t help but ask the developers why now felt like the perfect time to bring the series back.

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Capcom opens up on Onimusha Way of the Sword, returning the series to the limelight after almost 20 years

Onimusha Way of the Sword aims to bring back the series after almost a 20-year hiatus. The last mainline game was Dawn of Dreams, which released way back in 2006. As someone who practically grew up with titles developed by Capcom, Onimusha was one of my all-time favorite game series.

Miyamoto Musashi is the protagonist of Onimusha Way of the Sword (Image via Capcom)

The question that I and many long-time Onimusha fans might have is, given that the series is coming back to the center stage after almost two decades, how might the developers have optimized the experience to appeal to both old and new fans?

On my behalf, our senior journalist, Angshuman Dutta, who was present on-site in the Gamescom Asia 2025 venue, had asked the following question to Mr. Akihito Kadowaki and Mr. Satoru Nihei.

"Onimusha has been dormant for a while. What inspired the decision to revive the series now, and how do you see Way of the Sword connecting with both longtime fans and newcomers?"

To our question, Mr. Akihito Kadowaki answered with the following via a translator.

"So it has been like, what, 20 years already since the last Onimusha? And we understand that the market has changed, and people have changed, and all that. But then we started thinking, so what makes Onimusha Onimusha? And we try to keep the gauntlet, the sword fight, and all that, whatever that's iconic in the game. We try to keep it so the fans still love it for what it is."

Continuing, he stated:

"But at the same time, we develop the world for a new user. They can just come in, and they will get the vibe immediately. They will understand the story. We are making it easier for new players to understand the world as well. That's the thought that we went through."

Mr. Satoru Nihei explained that the approach the team took with Onimusha Way of the Sword is to make it feel like an improvement over past games. While fans love the titles for what they are, the team ensured that the experience would feel much "better". In his own words:

"Even though we keep the world of Onimusha the way it should be, we have added so many aspects that will satisfy both the old and the new players."

He added more, regarding the playable gameplay demo for Onimusha Way of the Sword, as he said that the game will definitely give you the "satisfaction of cutting your enemies."

As to why the developers decided to bring the series back with Onimusha Way of the Sword after almost two decades, the developers explained:

"In this company, Capcom, there was a lot of talk about wanting to make a new Onimusha game, but to be honest, we weren't able to get started. The real reason why we weren't able to bring back the series until now is because of we did not have the right team, and there were so many other factors that affected the whole process. But in 2020, there was an opportunity because we had integrated the RE Engine. That's where it made the process a lot better. So, well, it took five years, but here we are. It's back."

Mr. Nihei added a closing statement with a hint of positivity for the future of Onimusha Way of the Sword:

"The part we wanted to really focus on was on action game players, people who love action games. We wanted to make sure you play this game, you enjoy it, and you get every satisfaction from every slash from the game."

He continued:

"From the first slash, from the first battle, you can easily experience that satisfaction of the action scene, and until it's officially released, we will try to make it as fun as possible."

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Onimusha Way of the Sword is set to release in 2026, marking the return of another classic action game series from Capcom.